Author's blog. I give opinions on what is happening in the publishing industry, in my family, or in my world. It's my blog, and I can say what I want to. See my FTC disclosure at the bottom of my blog page. Visit my website at www.tjbennett.com.

Monday, June 22, 2009

IMHO Welcomes Eppie-winner Teri Thackston!

IMHO is pleased to welcome a special bonus guest this month to IMHO, Teri Thackston. Teri is a native Texan, practically-native Houstonian, and life-long lover of storytelling. Teri is a Houston romance novel columnist for the Examiner and her award-winning novels, published by Cerridwen Press, cover the spectrum of romance, from suspense to paranormal to historical.

Teri’s paranormal romantic suspense Final Words won the prestigious 2009 Eppie Award from EPIC for the Best Fantasy/Paranormal Romance. In Final Words, a near-fatal hit-and-run leaves Medical Examiner Emma St. Clair able to talk to the spirits of people she autopsies. Read an excerpt here.

Teri encourages everyone to go green by trying an e-book at least once: “They provide each one of us with an easy way to contribute to saving the environment. They use no paper or ink and there are no shipping costs. All kinds of wonderful books can be downloaded straight to your computer or hand-held reading devices. There are even some cell phones that can double as a reader...So save some money and time. Save some gas. Save some trees. Try an e-book today.” She’s going to help you do that by putting her contact information in IMHO’s gift basket for a free download of her award-winning e-book Final Words.

TT: Well, TJ, believe it or not, it does. We’re almost through June—the bride month, first month of summer, a time of new beginnings. How many weddings have occurred by now? How many new lives have begun? The number stretches the bounds of possibility.

That’s what I tried to do with my paranormal romance, Final Words—stretch the bounds of possibility. There is no wedding in the book, but the story can be linked to new lives, to beginnings. Medical examiner Emma St. Clair is experiencing a new life: she’s returned to her hometown, she’s newly divorced, she’s newly…alive.

You read that right. Emma, the victim of a hit-and-run driver has been brought back to life from a near-death experience. And there’s something else new for our lovely young medical examiner. She’s returned with the ability to communicate with the spirits of the dead on her autopsy table. And do they have stories to tell—chiefly the truth of how they died, which is often at odds with the available evidence.

Of course, she hides this dubious gift in order to keep from being labeled emotionally disturbed. Who would trust a doctor—even a doctor for the dead—that claims to communicate with ghosts? We hear about such things but do any of us really know a person who’s had a near-death experience? I do. One of my dearest friends died on an operating table and she saw things on the other side that definitely test the bounds of possibility. And she came back a new person.

Now Final Words isn’t my friend’s story. It’s Emma’s. It’s fictional. But my friend’s experience proves—at least to me—that it’s possible. Emma has real emotions, real doubts, real fears. She doesn’t want to lose her job as a medical examiner because it’s the one thing in her life she feels she can control. But the spirits give her information regarding their deaths and she feels obligated to take that information and find the evidence to prove the truth.

Of course this is a paranormal romance, so Emma’s new beginning must include a new love. Enter Detective Jason MacKenzie, a man who lost a friend in the accident that “killed” Emma. He’s also still traumatized by his sister’s death a year earlier—in another hit-and-run that remains unsolved. Because of his losses, Jason vows to bring this deadly driver to justice.

Then Emma uncovers a serial killer at work and puts her new life at risk to find him. Learning that another detective was one of the killer’s victims, she enlists Jason’s help. Of course when she solves cases with information she shouldn’t know, he focuses his investigation on her—and investigation becomes attraction. Emma tries to hide her ability but secrets can be dangerous and as she draws closer to the killer, she finds her new life and love in real danger.

IMHO: Wow, Teri, sounds chilling and romantic, a fascinating combination. So, IMHO readers, have you ever experienced any unexplainable phenomena you think might make the basis of a good spine-tingling tale?

Let Teri know by leaving a comment here, and if you want to be eligible to win the “Weddings & Beginnings” gift basket this month full of autographed books by Deeanne Gist, Kathryn Albright, Gemma Halliday, Kathy Carmichael, TJ Bennett, and a free e-book download from Eppie-winning bonus guest Teri Thackston, as well as a $20 gift certificate to Target, be sure to leave a comment for at least one other guest this month. And stay tuned for our final guest this Wednesday, June 24, 2009, fellow Medallion Press author Kathy Carmichael! Comment away!

28 comments:

I have lived in two houses that had spirits in them, plus I was visited by the spirits of my father and my brother after they died (many years apart): My father, I actually saw standing at the foot of my bed; my brother came to me in a dream. But I wasn't spooked by any of these incidents, so I'd really have to work to make them suspenseful.Margay

Thanks for your comments, everyone. Speaking of ghosts, I heard a first-hand account from a waitress yesterday at lunch at the Wunsche Brothers Cafe in Spring, TX. I've always heard it was haunted and she said that the ghost occasionally shows up during the day--even customers have seen him! She turned around one day and he was standing right behind her--as solid as anyone else. He looked at her for several seconds and then just vanished!

The funniest ghost story from personal experience? We had this redneck, good ole' boy who haunted a boutique where I used to work. He liked knocking down displays and throwing clothes. We forgot to warn a new girl though. The first Sunday afternoon she worked, a dress leapt a yard from where it was hanging to land on floor. The new girl freaked. When I explained it was just Bubba, our resident ghost, she ran around the shop screaming. (Luckily, no customers came in while she was doing this.) She quit two days later.

We have to listen to our feelings. I read a book years ago called The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker. ALL women should read that book. According to him, our first instincts are usually the right ones and our subconscious is constantly working to keep us safe.Teri

Great interview! I'm not ready to go green. The only e-books I've gotten, I had to print out because I don't have a reader, and my idea of fun is not sitting in front of my computer. I hope the e-readers come down in price soon.

My husband once lived in a little apartment before we got married. Often when I stayed there, I would be woken up in the middle of the night with my husband sitting up in bed talking. He told me, "they're here but they won't hurt us. I can see them there and over there." We had to turn the bed a different direction to stop this.

TJ Bennett

About Me

I'm a published author of historical romance and a former Golden Heart and Daphne Du Maurier contest finalist. My first novel, THE LEGACY, was an April 2008 release. My second novel, THE PROMISE, was a May 2009 release. THE LEGACY was nominated for a Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, Booksellers Best Award, and Holt Medallion. My latest novel is DARK ANGEL: A GOTHIC FAIRY TALE, an Entangled Publishing October 2013 release.
Visit my website at www.tjbennett.com, view my tweets at Twitter http://twitter.com/TJBennettauthor, and Like me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TJBennettAuthor.

Twitter handle: TJBennettauthor

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FTC regulations state that I must advise you that most of the books featured on this blog are donated by their authors for promotional purposes, i.e., for contest giveaways and Random Freebies. That being the case, rest assured that no one is paying me to say nice things. Honest.